Las Leñas

Our Take

Las Leñas sits in the Mendoza province of Argentina at 2,300 meters base elevation, with the main ski terrain reaching 3,430 meters. What makes Las Leñas extraordinary is the combination of altitude, aspect, and the Andes' specific snow climate: the storms that arrive from the Pacific lose most of their moisture crossing the Chilean Andes, but what reaches Las Leñas is cold, dry, and falls on a mountain that gets 3,500 sunshine hours annually -- powder skiing in full sun, which is an experience not available anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. The terrain is expert-weighted and demanding. The Marte gondola serves the upper mountain's serious terrain including the resort's celebrated off-piste zones: deep couloirs, open faces, and backcountry-adjacent skiing that attracts European and North American experts specifically seeking austral-winter powder. The Marte zone gets 30+ feet of annual snowfall. The resort complex at the base has the closed-village character of a French altitude station -- accommodation, restaurants, and nightlife contained in the resort zone, no nearby town. Las Leñas operates during the Northern Hemisphere summer and has been drawing European ski racers for Southern Hemisphere off-season training since the 1990s.

Nerd Stats

Fun Facts

• Las Leñas gets 3,500 sunshine hours annually -- full-sun powder skiing is a combination unavailable in the Northern Hemisphere.
• The Marte gondola is the key to Las Leñas -- it accesses terrain that consistently gets 9+ meters of annual snowfall in the upper Andes.
• European and North American ski teams use Las Leñas for Southern Hemisphere off-season training camps -- the slopes see World Cup-caliber athletes in August.
• Las Leñas is 4 hours from Mendoza -- you drive through empty Patagonian desert before the Andes suddenly appear ahead of you.